


A Piece of My Heart

by deepseaCritter



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, importance of armor, mandalorian tradition
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-27
Updated: 2018-01-27
Packaged: 2019-03-10 00:13:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13492770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deepseaCritter/pseuds/deepseaCritter
Summary: A relationship that should never have happened, and maybe they won't be together for long. Sometimes putting armor on means more than taking it off.





	A Piece of My Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Jacek is my clone OC. Jadzia is my SWTOR bounty hunter, who I migrated over to TCW era.

_Mhi solus tome._

_Mhi solus dar'tome._

_Mhi me'dinui an._

_Mhi ba'juri verde._

They had said the words to each other and made their pact, their promise. Alone on her ship, they stood together, their voices echoing in the other-wise silent lounge. 

Jadzia reached up to hold Jacek’s face, touching the scars running along his left temple. Jacek pulled her close into what started as a gentle kiss, and morphed into something stronger and more passionate. They didn’t break until she had pulled him through the ship corridor into her quarters, peeling off each other’s armor along the way. Pieces of green and white armor littered the floor, but that was no concern to them at the moment.

Once in her room, they took turns kissing each other out of their respective under suits. The stood, savoring the warmth of an embrace, finally free of all the barriers that had been between them for so long. Jadzia wrapped her arms around Jacek’s broad shoulders, and legs around his waist, as he picked her up and they fell on to the bed. Whatever hells awaited them tomorrow could wait. Today, now, was for them alone.

***

They awoke just before sunrise. The morning had caught them by surprise, and Jacek didn’t have much time to make it back to base before his absence would be noticed by the captain. As he threw on his blacks, Jadzia put on her own under suit and went to the hall to collect their armor. She returned moments later with everything jumbled together, just as she had found it.

Jacek rushed to pull on his boots, then stopped as he watched as Jadzia laid out their armor. From the bundle she had brought in, she was carefully and efficiently separating and placing each piece in order. It was her ritual, just as much as it was his. She touched each piece of armor as if it was the last time she would ever see it—see him—and he was struck with the reverence and profound sadness of it all. She handed him his first piece of leg armor, but he reached for her hand instead.

“Would you help me, ner riddur?”

Jadzia looked at him, the pain briefly disappearing from her eyes as she smiled. “Of course, cyare.”

Under normal circumstances, it should have taken under a minute to gear up, as per regulations…but this hardly qualified as normal for either of them. Jadzia affixed his knee pads and thigh gauntlets. Maybe someday it would be normal, but the future was too uncertain. _Flexible cushion, shoulder pads, biceps, elbow pads, arm gauntlets_ …Rex wouldn’t know he was missing until he had his first cup of caf anyway. _Front and rear torso plates, crotch plate, skid plate_ …the time had passed too quickly. Last night had been a blur, but he would clearly remember her touch now, on his armor.

Jacek no longer cared if he was reprimanded for his absence back at base. Now something far more intimate than their time spent together the previous night, and he decided no one was going to take this moment from him.  He hoped she would remember him the same way, as he dressed her in her own armor.

***

They could not delay the day could any longer. Putting on their gloves and helmets as they exited the ship, they silently walked toward the hanger bay exit together. Every few steps Jacek turned his head to look at Jadzia, trying to scorch every detail about her into his brain. He would give anything to stay with her, but he was a clone, and had nothing to give. He had nothing to give _her_ …nothing…except…

_My heart. My life._

 The thought raced through him and he stopped, pulled the guard off one of his gloves and handed it to Jadzia. Of all the women in the galaxy, she would be the one to understand the weight and meaning of this gift. 

“I want you to have this, to remember me. To remember how much I love you.”

Jadzia accepted the guard, and removing one of her green beskar hand guards, replaced it with Jacek’s. She then took Jacek’s hand, and attached her guard to his glove.

“To remember how much I love you, in this life and whatever comes after.”

Jacek tapped his helmet to Jadzia’s—a farewell kiss—and whispered, “Forever.”


End file.
